Because we do not already have enough nuclear waste dumps - 14 January 2024

Nuclear power from fission, good old Uranium-powered sources, have an on-going level of support that continues to amaze me.  I was previously a supporter of nuclear power, so perhaps my perspective is more intense than it might otherwise be.  This is not an unusual phenomenon;  I know ex-smokers who are vibrantly anti-smoking, more against smoking than people who have never smoked.  But, as an engineer, I try to be practical.  As a modern engineer, I try to understand the full life-cycle of an idea.  And nuclear power may succeed as carbon-free in the short term, but it fails in the long-term safety of the by-products.  We have failed to solve the disposal problem of nuclear power.  We do not know what to do with the continuous stream of low-level waste coming from nuclear power plants - as far as I can tell, we just bury the stuff.  We do not know what to do with the regular pulses of high-level waste coming from nuclear power plants - we just store it in swimming pools and post guards.  That is about the best we can do.  Yucca Mountain failed totally; political or technological, it was a total failure.  There are attempts to reprocess nuclear waste, but those processes create new nuclear waste, albeit more concentrated.  And, go ahead, tell me how concentrated nuclear waste is better than the regular flavor.  Yes, it can create new nuclear fuels, but those will eventually become high-level waste, so it is but a temporary solution.  Finally, the Swedes (I think) are burying the stuff, but, again, that is only temporary.  

Ultimately, nuclear power is a poisonous gift to our descendants, not a solution to anything.

And when the supporters are done arguing (fruitlessly) against these arguments, nuclear power is expensive.  Solar and wind are already cheaper, so nuclear has lost the war.  

We do have a continuing nuclear-waste problem with smoke detectors.  They contain a small amount of Americium (I think it is) to generate ions that help detect the smoke.  Instead of being properly disposed of, instead of being recycled, the bulk of these units are simply discarded in household waste.  That means all of our garbage dumps are becoming nuclear waste dumps.  Clever that.

Recently, some researchers in China announced the development of a 50-year battery...that is nuclear powered.  Oh, joy.  In the article,  Chinese-developed nuclear battery has a 50-year lifespan , the researchers use an isotope of Nickel to generate power for small devices (e.g., phones).  The article reports that "Betavolt says its nuclear battery will target aerospace, AI devices, medical, MEMS systems, intelligent sensors, small drones, and robots – and may eventually mean manufacturers can sell smartphones that never need charging."  Even though the batteries may last 50 years, the small devices will only last a couple years (I found numerous Google articles that quoted 2-3 years based on actual studies).  Let us assume the 50-yr batteries will double the lifetime of the average cell phone to six years.  That still means that millions of little radioactive devices will be discarded every year; more likely tens of millions or more.  All of those devices will be dumped into landfills and garbage heaps to add to the radioactivity of the smoke detectors.  

That is a lovely gift for our descendants.  Lovely.